Previous Research

At every point the speaker is selecting among a range of possibilities that differ in meaning; and if we attempt to separate meaning from choice we are turning a valuable distinction (between linguistic function) into an arbitrary dichotomy (between ‘meaningful’ and ‘meaningless’ choices). All options are embedded in the language system: the system is a network of options, deriving from all the various functions of language. (Halliday 1971: 338)

In this passage Halliday comments on the relationship between meaning and choice, emphasizing the importance of looking at language as a sort of interplay between the two.

In other words; if the choices we make derive from the meaning we wish to create, one should be able to investigate the meaning behind the language choices as a narrative technique on its own.

Halliday’s model of SFG suits a number of different purposes, but mainly within the field of linguistics. As to the research of its usefulness in literature, it has been explored by some, including Halliday himself, but the research material we have on this field still remains somewhat limited. By doing a project on SFG and its use in literature, I am hoping to supplement previous work done by researchers on the study of functional grammar in literature, such as Halliday (1971), Kennedy (1992) and Toolan (1998).

2.2.2 M.A.K Halliday and ‘Linguistic Function and Literary Style: An Inquiry into the Language of William Golding’s The Inheritors (1971)’

In the article ‘Linguistic Function and Literary Style: An Inquiry into the Language of William Golding’s The Inheritors’, Halliday draws attention to the criteria of relevance while looking at linguistic regularity as a means of analyzing literature. Where does one draw the line between what is interesting in the language in the sense of being

stylistically relevant or not (1971:330)?

In Halliday’s article he explores Golding’s text in order to see if a functional analysis may contribute to the general theory of the use of language in literature. He believes that if language really is programmed to serve a ‘variety of needs’, and you have a particular way of looking at experience, it should have a literary and stylistic relevance which should be detectable in a linguistic inquiry. In The Inheritors, Golding is providing the reader with a particular way of experience through the eyes of the Neanderthal man, which according to Halliday, provides a remarkable illustration of how grammar can convey levels of meaning in literature (Halliday 1971:332).

By selecting three passages, namely A, B and C, he makes a linguistic inquiry into the linguistic differences between the three. He finds that there is a significant contrast in the way in which the main actors in the novel, the Neanderthal people, are portrayed in terms of their understanding of the processes they are involved in, as well as their own participation in them. Halliday thus compares his findings from passages A to C, making a brief summary of the language he has found typical for each passage.

The language used to describe the Neanderthals show that there is no ‘cause and effect’. In other words; the processes are seldom connected to an external cause. In those

cases where they are, the agent is non human and where it is a human being, it is seldom one of the people. There tends to be only one participant in the process types, and other entities involved are merely circumstantial elements. People do not cause events with objects, and the action made is only involving them or parts of their body as in Lok peered at the stick (1971:353-354).

The language used to portray those who take over from the Neanderthals, ‘the Inheritors’ is quite different than the one used to describe the Neanderthals and the distinction between the two is particularly noticeable in terms of what sort of process types they are involved in. Whereas the Inheritors are involved in causative directed actions and have the ability to influence their surroundings, the Neanderthals are not involved in hardly any processes due to an external cause (1971:351-354).

Halliday concludes his project with a discussion on the writer’s use of language and how it reflects the variety of functions a language can have. By choosing a particular way of expressing the characters thoughts and ability to act, Golding represents their experience through ‘the syntactic recourses of transitivity (Halliday 1971:360)’.

2.2.3 Chris Kennedy and ‘Systemic Grammar and its Use in Literary Analysis (1992)’

Chris Kennedy draws further attention to the work of Halliday and his use of SFG in literary analysis with his research on the usefulness of SFG in a literary analysis of Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent. Kennedy explores the transitivity system in order to analyze a passage concerned with the murder of Mr. Verloc by his wife (1992:86).

Kennedy finds that there are thirteen verbs where Mr. Verloc is the actor and that eight of these are mental processes of perception. His results further show that all except one of the processes are intransitive in terms of being used without a goal and that none has Mr. Verloc as initiator of the action. He is, in fact, the passive bystander to his own death and even though he understands what is about to happen, he does not have the time to act before he is killed (1992:87).

When Kennedy examines Mrs Verloc’s role in the story, her actions are mainly without goals and there seems to be no connection between her physical actions and her mental state. The transitive verbs of action seem to be connected to parts of her body and it does not seem as though she is aware of her actions. Either the actor is replaced by an instrument, as in: ‘the carving knife had vanished’ or her body parts is taking over the role as actor (1992:88). According to Kennedy, the distance between Mrs Verloc and the murder she commits thus creates a situation entirely based on choices made by the author by ‘selecting certain options available within certain functions’ (1992:90).

2.2.4 Michael Toolan and Language in Literature (1998)

In his book, Toolan explores the world of stylistics or literary linguistics in order to provide the reader with a detailed introduction as to how one can analyze literature in linguistic terms.

Language in Literature (1998) deals with a range of different topics such as repetition, speech and thought patterns in literature, modality and the system of SFG. His main goal is to systemize and explain how language can create particular effects in fictional texts, especially through the study of stylistics.

2.2.5 Chinua Achebe and ‘An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1977)’

In the famous essay ‘An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness’, Chinua Achebe criticizes Conrad for his representation of Africa in Heart of Darkness.

He uses the following excerpt to illustrate how it ‘single-mindedly’ represents Africa and

’the fascination it holds over the Western mind’ (Achebe 1977:254):

The earth seemed unearthly. We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there -- there you could look at a thing monstrous and free. It was unearthly and the men were.... No they were not inhuman. Well, you know that was the worst of it -- this suspicion of their not being inhuman.

(HOD 2002 pp.138-139)

Chinua Achebe statements concerning the writings of Joseph Conrad are one of the most famous critiques there are on Heart of Darkness. His view on the manner in which Conrad chooses to express himself in order to ‘trick’ the reader into not paying attention to what he is, in fact, writing, is a controversial claim and one of the main reasons why this analysis is potentially very interesting(1977:253).

The novel’s ambiguous contents, as well as the controversies often connected to race related issues, are some of the reasons why some of Achebe’s points have not yet been addressed. I will comment on some of these issues through out the thesis, especially in connection with the analysis of passage C, one of the passages referred to by Achebe. I will also return to Achebe and his essay about Heart of Darkness in Chapter 4 when I return to my discussion from Chapter 3 and look at the effect of a linguistic approach to literature.